Monday, 13 June 2011

Do you have job that hinges on something to work? And if that thing doesn't work, everything grinds to a halt?

In my case, that thing would apparently be the till.

Tills are a pretty fundamental aspect of shops. Ours is a PC with a nifty little machine to churn out the receipts, fairly standard for most places these days I guess. Now, ours is not just the till; it's got various files and programs, some relating to our website.

I happened to be working on said files, when I attempted to save a word document of all things, when the computer apparently decided - 'Meh, that's it, I'm doing nothing else today!' and freezes up.

I try ctrl-alt-del. Nothing. I try to restart it. Hmmm, that's just the background image with no icons or bar to seen. At least the cursor is there - something's working in there!

Phone boss. Instructed to call a local company for assistance. Phone local company. Turn it off and on again - same result as before. Someone will be along about 3.30pm - 4pm. Fine.

I'll just have write down every item I sell until then - noting the code, description and price (here's hoping the prices are correct and not been raised since the tag was written), then write out a receipt for the customer with the same details (not that we have anything other A4 lined paper, no book of receipts for use in such an emergency).

By some small mercy, I had no customers for the rest of the day so I was saved from that horrendous daydream of endlessly scribbling receipts in handwriting that starts off neat and tidy before rapidly deteriorating into something resembling a drunken spider that's covered in ink and dancing the bolero across the paper.

Of course, I'm sat waiting around for the guy to turn up. I can't get on with various tasks left for me by Nora because the files I need are on the till-computer.

Half 3 rolls around, no sign. No worries. 4 o'clock. Hmm, would have thought he'd be here by now, but who knows where his last call-out is so is most likely on his way.

Half 4 - I'm back on the phone asking where the smeg this guy is. I'm promised they will chase him up and get him to phone me. About ten to five I'm back on the phone. All surprise that he didn't call me and cue promises that he'll be here tomorrow morning around 11am.

Thank the gods I'm not working tomorrow. I phone Nora with the pitiful takings of the day and have to leave a message about the non-appearing technician, then scarpered in case she phoned back!

I'll probably get blamed for it somehow.

Law of Sod dictates that when Nora goes in tomorrow, she'll turn the computer on and it'll be perfectly fine..

On the plus side of the day - I applied to another three jobs; another trainee dental assistant post, an admin role in my home town, and for a local supermarket (that I'm sure relies on more than a single till)..